Fixed hard brake pedal (finally)

[NorCalC20LWB]

I've had my 72 c20 for a couple of years now and the power brakes felt more like manual brakes the whole time. After replacing the power booster, master cylinder, front disks, & bleeding the whole system the brakes still felt very stiff, and you had to really press hard to keep it from rolling at a light. Non of the above made any difference, so finally replace the rear shoes and wheel cylinders. Wow, night and day! Things appeared to be pretty locked up from years of sitting, so the new parts, shoes, springs, cylinders, and some dabs of brake grease made all the difference. Hopefully, this will help someone else who has the same issues and save some money by not replacing expensive parts needlessly. I did learn a lot though, so maybe all worth it!

[jayoldschool]

Do the hoses, too.

[tdangle]

Were the linings worn out or just old? I have the same issue with mine. I have rebuilt the wheel cylinders, checked and lubed everything, but didn't replace the linings since they had a lot of life left on them. The brakes were rebuilt by a local shop about 15 years ago and probably only have a couple of thousand miles on them.

[NorCalC20LWB]

Shoes had plenty of life left, just looked old. Contemplated leaving them in, but figured replacing was cheap and good insurance. Updating all the parts and cleaning/lubing seemed to be what was needed.